Chapter 455 Leaving the City
Zhao Yi's eyes were filled with coldness: "I killed the traitors and their accomplices. Your Majesty will not punish me."
Jiang Chao looked confused.
"The Emperor of Northern Qi sent me to Yongqing County to quell the rebellion. He had no intention of letting me return to the capital safely, so why would he arrange for the Royal Guards to protect me?"
Zhao Yi sneered, "The Northern Qi Emperor sent secret guards to assassinate me. If I give them the written instructions and the imperial edict, wouldn't that make his intentions clear?"
Jiang Chao instantly understood the key point. The Emperor of Northern Qi sent someone to assist Zhao Yi in quelling the rebellion, and that was to select an official from the court and grant him the post of imperial envoy.
If they sent people to monitor Zhao Yi because they were afraid that Zhao Yi would not perform his duties, that was the job of the Censor-in-Chief, and it would never be the turn of a secret guard.
Anyone with a discerning eye can tell there is something fishy going on.
Not only would the Emperor of Northern Qi not hold Zhao Yi accountable for the matter of the secret guards, but he was actually afraid that Zhao Yi would continue to dwell on the matter of the secret guards.
Thinking of this, Jiang Chao breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhao Yi looked at the open city gates. "I've captured Feng Zhihuan and am about to quell the riot in Yongqing County, but at this critical moment, the secret guards have closed the city gates. I'm afraid they're planning to attack me from inside the city."
Jiang Chao asked: "What about Li Yong..."
"Although I control Yongqing County, Feng Zhihuan's power is too deeply rooted, and many of his men are still inside the city. The secret guards want to block the city gates, and they must be using Feng Zhihuan's case as an excuse."
The first was to prevent Feng Zhihuan's party from destroying evidence, and the second was to prevent him from fabricating evidence to frame Feng Zhihuan. The most appropriate way was to block the city gates and prohibit anyone from going out.
Unfortunately, Feng Zhihuan's subordinates were unaware of the secret guards' conspiracy, and took this opportunity to collapse the lead mine, killing several innocent people in order to frame him.
Who knew that I would end up helping him in a counter-productive way.
Now that he has killed the secret guard, his accomplices dare not act rashly for the time being and are probably waiting for instructions from the Emperor of Northern Qi.
He had to return to the capital before the secret order from the Northern Qi Emperor reached the hands of the secret guards.
"Feng Zhihuan is the root cause of the riot in Yongqing County. He's already in jail. We have evidence of his crimes, so he can't cause any trouble."
Zhao Yi instructed, "You will stay in Yongqing County and assist the county magistrate in settling the people. Tomorrow I will leave the city with my sister's group to worship the mountain god and return to the capital early."
"I obey your orders." Jiang Chao then thought of something else: "Master, you offered to buy grain from the grain merchants at ten coins per pound, but they refused to sell it."
"The grain merchants said that Yongqing County was already short of grain, and even if they sold it for fifteen cents per pound, they would only make back their initial investment. If they sold it for ten cents per pound, they would lose everything."
"They heard that grain in Yongqing County was selling for thirty coins per pound, so they brought the grain to Yongqing County to sell, hoping to make a small profit and also provide food for the people here."
"Although they will be forced to sell the grain to us at a low price due to the situation, this batch of grain can only temporarily alleviate the famine in Yongqing County."
The implication is that if you want to do business with them long-term, it must be mutually beneficial.
Zhao Yi frowned. "Didn't you tell them that we could exchange lead and silk for food?"
The silk fabrics of Yongqing County were very exquisite and of high quality. Feng Zhihuan sold these silk fabrics to foreigners and made huge profits from them.
If grain merchants had vision, they would be aware of the value of silk fabrics.
Not to mention the minerals that are controlled by the government.
Jiang Chao said vaguely, "My subordinates said that even so, the grain merchants still asked for fifteen coins per catty. They are merchants and will not do business at a loss."
Zhao Yi sneered. He could make some money at eight cents per stone of grain, not to mention ten cents per catty.
They sold grain in Yongqing County, then bought silk fabrics and lead to sell elsewhere. They made money on both ends, and although they didn't make a huge profit, the profit was still considerable.
"Go and post a notice, summoning grain merchants from Yongqing County. Anyone who has grain and can sell it to the people for ten cents a pound will be sold minerals and silk fabrics by the government."
Jiang Chao's eyes lit up. It was a profitable business and many people were rushing to do it.
The grain merchants from other places were simply aware that Yongqing County was short of grain, and their masters were anxious to solve the problem of food shortage, so they refused to make concessions on prices.
Once the news gets out, I'm afraid these people will rush to sell food to them.
Jiang Chao quickly said, "Okay, I'll do it right away."
Zhao Yi looked at Jiang Chao's back as he rode away on horseback, took the horse's reins from the soldier, and planned to go and meet Princess Guangning.
In a flash, he remembered the chaotic situation in Yongqing County and was afraid that complications would arise, so he gave up the idea.
Zhao Yi returned to Plum Garden and wrote letters to Prince Yu and Princess Guangning respectively, and then asked Jiang Mu to deliver them to them.
Princess Guangning was kneeling in front of the Buddhist shrine with her hands folded, praying to the Buddha to bless her to fulfill her wish.
"Your Highness, Your Highness—" Yun Shu hurried into the room and said anxiously, "Prince Guangling has been cleared of his charges, but the sealed city gates have been opened."
Guangning suddenly opened his eyes and his face turned pale.
The city gate was opened, which meant that Prince Yu could leave the city unimpeded, so he would definitely not take her away.
Yun Shu helped Princess Guangning up and was about to say a few words of comfort.
At this time, Yunying hurried into the room, took out a letter from her sleeve and handed it to Princess Guangning: "Your Highness, this is a letter from Prince Guangling to you."
Guangning hurriedly opened the letter, read it at a glance, and breathed a sigh of relief.
She instructed Yun Shu: "Aunt Yun, I will go to the mountain temple to worship the mountain god tomorrow. Please prepare some clothes for me."
"Yes, Your Highness." Yun Shufu bowed and immediately went to prepare the sacrificial robes.
Afterwards, Guangning instructed Yunying, "We're leaving Yongqing County tomorrow under the pretext of offering sacrifices to the mountain god. We can't take anything else with us. Please take the important things with you."
"Yes, Your Highness." Yunying hurried to pack up.
Guangning stood in front of the window, looking at the courtyard where Prince Yu lived, and clenched the letter in his hand.
I hope... Prince Yu will take her away as my brother said in the letter.
The next day.
Princess Guangning dressed up, got into a sedan chair, and headed towards the mountain temple surrounded by the people.
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